We still have one room available for the weekend of Nov. 2 and 3. Green Meadows, our twin room on second floor, is open. It can be quickly converted to a king sized room upon request. If you are not able to join us, please feel free to share this availability with others you think might enjoy the weekend.

"Art After Dark" will be in full swing in downtown Waynesville on Friday night. The Waynesville Gallery Association sponsors the event on the first Friday night of each month from May - December. Downtown merchants often have live music during Art after Dark - for example, Pheasant Hill (furniture store with dessert restaurant) will feature one of our favorites on Friday night - Jeannie Nabors. Jeannie is a great showwoman who sings a wide variety of songs - all around a great entertainer. For more information about the art gallery participation, go to http://www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com/content/view/16/5/

It is a perfect time for getting a head start on selecting those gifts for the people on your Christmas list who cherish one of a kind treasures. We will have gift wrap, scissors, tape, beverages and hors d'oeuvres, and after dinner dessert on Saturday evening if guests wish to wrap your their purchases by the fire in the library or the music room.

For ease of reference if you wish to see more about Iris Meadows, or wish to share information with friends, we have listed our various web sites at the bottom of this email.

www.irismeadows.comhttp://www.selectregistry.com/inns/qv/iid/523/inn/bedandbreakfast.aspxhttp://www.bedandbreakfast.com/north-carolina-waynesville-innatirismeadows.htmlhttp://www.bbonline.com/nc/irismeadows/index.htmlhttp://www.lanierbb.com/inns/bb12613.htmlhttp://www.ncbbi.org/display-inn.php?id=171 NCBBI, the NC Association of Inns, features our porch on their “Porches of the South” campaign. See it at http://www.ncbbi.org/passport.phpYou may view guest comments about the inn at the bedandbreakfast.com site listed #3 in the list above and at tripadvisor.com at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g49648-d560752-Reviews-Inn_at_Iris_Meadows-Waynesville_North_Carolina.html

Graveyard Fields is a popular pull off area on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It has access to three major waterfalls, acres and acres of blueberries, and several good campsites. The good news is that this area is easily accessible to almost anyone (with the exception of the physically handicapped). The bad news is that it's easily accessible to almost anyone, which means that the area is bombarded with what I call pull-off hikers, meaning people in sneakers, tank tops and flip-flops with screaming kids who leave their soda bottles laying on the trail. Also, because there is little tree coverage the noise from Parkway motorcyclists tends to further deteriorate the natural serenity of this beautiful area. Therefore the best time to visit is during the week when there are far fewer people and Harley riders are busy robbing banks or starting bar fights or whatever it is those guys do during the week.

The trail that will take you to Upper Falls and Lower Falls and Graveyard Ridge and can be found here. It's a short 3.2 mile loop.

Many dead trees such as these are located throughout the "graveyard".

This is the upper section of Upper Falls. The entire falls cannot be photographed all at once from the ground.

Lower falls is the easiest to access.

This is the very top portion of Yellowstone Falls which is a 125 foot cascading waterfall. It can best be seen a mile or so away, on the Parkway. There is no trail leading to it, and two different popular NC waterfall guidebooks advise against traveling to it. Nevertheless we had a very nice quiet lunch there away from the crowds. Since it is dangerous, I'll not give step-by-step directions for getting there. The falls are listed on National Geographic trail map number 780 and if you follow your nose, and eventually your ears, you can find it. If you find this exact area, you will be at the top and you can easily slip on a rock and fall to your death, so be careful, and don’t take small children.

Below is a short film shot here inspired by the location and the book Flatland.

This is a nice little restaurant located near Lake Toxaway. The seating is primarily located on a deck (sort of) overlooking Toxaway Falls. The menu, beer list and wine list are extensive, featuring several good craft beers and food items ranging from trout to duck to lobster to prime rib. Unfortunately they seem to be going through some growing pains so not everything on the menu is available at any given time, but it still makes a great place to stop after a day of fishing, golfing, hiking or geocaching nearby.